Business 300

What should you do when you're under continual pressure to fold? Consider the consequence. If you're tempted to fold, consider the consequence. Consider the consequence of 2 things. First, consider the consequence of folding. And second, consider the consequence of not folding. When tempted to fold, consider the consequence. Consider the consequence of folding. Consider the consequence of holding. And then decide: It's you or the problem. Who will fold?

When there are so many opportunities for improvement, how do you know where to start? What is the most efficient and effective way to go about making things better? As in all things, there are a variety of frameworks, many of which are helpful. There are different ways to approach this question. The framework I have for you here is my go-to to get clarity quickly and efficiently, and get to action. I like using the Effort & Impact Matrix. It's not original to me. But I've made it my own. As you work on your business, think about how you can compound your improvement efforts.

Here you have it. 7 things that your customer is unwilling to pay for. Which means, you are paying for it. These are all things eating away at your margins. Getting rid of them adds directly to your bottom line - either by flowing directly into profit, or by giving you the opportunity to improve your pricing structures, thereby winning more business.

So, get to it. Get rid of waste, or it will be getting rid of you. 

In order to have consistent production, you must get to executing - to doing the work. Doing is producing. And if you want to get from not executing anywhere to executing everywhere, crossing that chasm in one leap will be the same sort of failure.

If your execution sucks, start by executing on something you can handle. Build sustainable deliverables. The point is to start producing consistently, no matter how small. You can make small things bigger. You can't make big things out of nothing.

You might be worried that small and consistent is slow. "This is going to take forever." You'd be wrong. It's actually the opposite. Consistent isn't slow. At least it doesn't have to be. Once you build consistency into your outputs, you'll be able to add to it. Keep piling, keeping improving, and soon your strides will be more than you wished to handle.

Build habits of consistent production, instead of pursuing leaps of gains. Consistent production beats sporadic exceptionalism.

Most businesses host some sort of a Christmas party. Whether extravagant or simple, businesses have a Company Christmas Party. But that seems a bit strange, does it not? Why have a Company Christmas party? 

On this holiday, when we remember God’s gift to mankind and give gifts to one another, how great it is that we can celebrate together with the people that we work with, the ones with whom every day we give of ourselves to others. 

Happy Working. Merry Giving.
And Merry Christmas!

Delivering on expectations is a good summary of what every business owner does. We make promises and then deliver on them. This happens with all parties and transactions. Customers, employees, financiers, vendors. Business owners deliver on expectations. If you want to deliver on customer expectations reliably and consistently, you must take the responsibility to set and manage them. You must manage customer expectations.

"Character matters" has become the sort of overused adage that is neither considered nor applied. Yes, character does matter. Of course it does. So much so that it's measured not with intentions, but with results. And when considering results, what matters is competence. If we had to choose, of course I'd choose success in certain roles over other ones. However, choosing between character and competence is not only a false dilemma, it is a false*hood*. You can't choose character at the expense of competence. Not only are character and competence *not* mutually exclusive, real character produces real competence. Competence is what merits attention. So, character merits attention to the extent that a man with character excels at his work. That's because character creates competence.

Whether due to fear, guilt, or naivety, business leaders have been beaten into the subservient role of "Servant Leader." Leading requires resilience in any context, but our cultural temperament of anxious envy suffocates leadership. Specifically in our context of not just disproportionate employee rights and entitlements, but a culture of empathy and feels, leaders have practically become followers. Presenting the aim for the leader's role as serving his employees is a wrongheaded approach to leadership because it doesn't drive people forward. It hinders the objective of the business, because it puts the focus on the employee instead of the customer. And it hurts the employee, because inviting them to live for themselves is a sad end. Purpose and joy is found in something bigger. The business leader should be rousing employees by raising their vision.

Some people are naturally minutious. An extreme care for details is the way they look at everything. Others see big picture and concepts only, and have no desire for the details. There are business people of both sorts, but I'm willing to bet that most are of the second type. Visionaries see big things, and have no patience with little things. Well, I'm here to tell you that if you don't have the patience for details, it will bite you in the end. I'm also here to tell you that if you don't have the patience for details, you're wrong. You've heard it said, "The devil's in the details." But I say unto you, God is in the details.

Playing the short game in your sales strategy is reactionary and frantic. It's pushing the product onto the customer. Playing the long game is proactive and free. It's pulling the customer into the product. You either have to spend time and energy pressuring leads to become customers as you squeeze droplets of juice by hand out of the single orange, or you spend time and energy building and maintaining trust, as you plant and water an orchard of orange trees, harvesting an abundance in due time. The mindset is what I'm talking about. Winning is playing the long game in your sales strategy.